USC ESPORTS WRAP-UP #4
By: Richard Wang
The Overwatch team celebrates their NECC win with a group meeting!
Hey USC Games, welcome back! This week, NECC placements continued for the Esports teams, but today we’re gonna be taking a deep dive into what an NECC match actually looks like, with a post-game interview with members of the Cardinal Team. Besides that, we also have a quick update from the Rocket League team for their matches this week!
Overwatch: Cardinal’s Conquest
This week, the Cardinal team went 3-0 against SDS (South Dakota School of Mines & Technology), marking another decisive victory for USC in NECC this season. Going into the match, the team planned on sticking to their classic Hazard dive comp with a Genji on the side: With momji on tank, ITRC and Doomguy taking over DPS, and adalia and Shurple backlining on support, the team went in confident.
After the first engagement on Samoa (the first map of three), it was clear that SDS favored a much slower composition with Reinhardt and a Ana/Brig backline. Luckily for Cardinal, it was just a matter of playing attrition, whittling down their resources, and bullying the Rein’s lack of range— a simple strategy they developed pretty quickly on the spot. By the second map, Suarvasa, Cardinal had already fully implemented their strategy into gameplay; despite SDS opting for a tank switch midway through, substituting Reinhardt for Ramattra, there was nothing that could be done to stop Cardinal’s conquest. Junkertown, the final map, went by in a flash as Cardinal took the clean 3-0 victory.
Following the match, we got a chance to have a short interview with the players and their team manager, Patrick, where we got to ask them a few post-game questions:
What was the first thing you wanted to do after the match?
While some team members were, for some inexplicable reasons, ‘craving’ the EVK dining hall, the general consensus was that they didn’t want to waste the “hot seat,” and opted to five stack comp afterwards. Either way, they were looking for more.
What was the highlight of the match?
Many of them mentioned Suarvasa as having the most peak moments during the match: From momji’s perfect Mauga counter— “The Rein shattered on the staircase, so I was able to perfectly predict that and counter-stun him before he could follow up.” — to ITRC’s Reaper “trap pincer play” that led to a two-piece Death Blossom on point. Patrick also executed a clean nanoblade on Samoa, “hitting three kills [in] one slice.” The team also mentioned a funny moment where their Shurple “hit an olly [emote] mid team-fight” before Cardinal went on to, in fact, win said team fight in style.
What was a moment during the match where you were at the edge of your seat?
It was overtime with a 1v1 on point: “You guys remember on Samoa— Hazard was 1v1ing the moira, he died and I’m like oh shoot. And then reaper comes in and pops her. And then we win. Lowkey, Reaper popped off.” On Suarvasa, SDS also took one round— “We were getting cocky” — which was a sign for Cardinal to lock in and take the following rounds.
What’s something another team member did in the match that you’d like to shout out?
Cardinal’s Ana, adalia, was being chased down by SDS’s Moira, Reaper, and Rein, and shouted out Shurple’s quick suzu that saved her on Samoa; adalia described it as “Supports supporting supports”, which couldn’t be more true. Overwatch, after all, is a team-based shooter: Without collaboration, everything falls apart. As for their closing thoughts, Cardinal had nothing left to say besides: “We’re excited for next week” — and believe me, we at Esports are too!
Rocket League: CCS, CWCL, CRL, NECC
The Rocket League teams had an incredibly busy week with their hands full with four— yes four! — different tournaments. Cardinal came out strong sweeping Nebraska 3-0 with three hard-fought games, all won by the difference of a goal! Over the weekend, Gold performed exceptionally well for their first NECC match, losing just narrowly 3-4 due to small, simple mistakes— but easily re-adjustable. As for CWCS and CRL, Gold and Cardinal met a few roadblocks too: Gold had to face SDSU and CPP, both incredibly high ranked teams, but did their best, showed up, and took the losses with dignity; Cardinal had their hands full with CRL too, losing 0-2 with both rounds being just a one-goal difference— cutthroat matches all around, that’s for sure. With a Cardinal x Gold scrim coming up this week, the Rocket League team feels warmed-up and ready for the upcoming CCS and NECC games, ready to bounce back!
